Dairy

There is dairy in pretty much everything that we eat! My little guy has a dairy sensitivity so I can't eat any dairy. He isn't lactose intolerant; he has a sensitivity to the proteins in dairy. The proteins whey and casein are in everything! I was surprised to find dairy in somethings. For example Chicken bouillon, McDonalds french fries have an artificial beef flavoring that uses a dairy protein. Most store bought boxed foods have dairy proteins. PF Changes Mongolian beef has dairy; I say this because it is my favorite and I did not expect it to have dairy. It is everywhere and until you have to avoid it you don't realize how much dairy we consume in the US! Surprisingly enough most cereals are dairy free but you have to use a non dairy milk on them; a lot of them have coconut oil instead of butter. A lot of dairy free recipes are nasty, but just because you have to go dairy free does not mean you have to have nasty food! There are some awesome substitutions that make tasty food instead of nasty food!

Milk Substitutes:
Soy Milk
Rice Milk
Coconut Milk
Almond Milk

All of these can be substituted 1:1 for milk and work well in baked goods. Personally we use coconut milk and almond milk. We tried rice milk and soy milk and they are absolutely disgusting in my opinion! I am a pretty picky eater in that I won't eat gross food. I was very spoiled with parents that made home cooked meals and not nasty casseroles but really good food! I was picky with milk when I could drink it. It has to be very cold and it has to be certain brands because others taste weird to me. Like I said, I am very picky, so I won't substitute for something nasty; I would rather go without! Coconut milk and almond milk are both sweet and a little goes a long way on cereal.

Butter Substitutes:
Coconut oil my favorite but it will leave a coconut flavor.
Vegetable, Canola, or grapeseed oil these don't work well in things like cookies that call for soft but not melted butter. Avoid Vegetable oil if you have an allergy to soy.
Shortening but not the butter flavored it has dairy proteins, also check the label because it depends on the brand. Again avoid if you have an allergy to soy.
Earth Balance natural buttery spread soy and dairy free. We use this one the most. My husband hates the flavor of coconut so I use this to make frosting and things that are not baked because it doesn't add a different flavor. I will not spread it on my toast though because I don't love the flavor of it plain, instead I just use jam.
Fruit Puree This is one that is healthier because it takes away the fat but it also changes the recipe a lot! Most people substitute applesauce. It will change the texture and the taste of the recipe! We tried making brownies with applesauce instead of oil when I was on a diet but we didn't like the flavor at all and they were dense. I don't use this as a substitute but it is an option.

I will be posting some dairy free recipes, they will not use soy or rice milk because I don't like them.